3rd May 2009 - Who's made a mark this week?

Photographs of the Shepherd Bookbinding/Falkiners Fine Paper shop

at 76 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4AR

I had a lovely time the afternoon of May Day.

• First I interviewed Margaret Stevens , the President of the Society of Botanical Artists about her work, the Society and the Distance Learning Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration (this interview will be posted on this blog on Tuesday).
• Then I paid a visit to the Shepherd Bookbinding/Falkiners Fine Paper shop in Southampton Row (which will be reviwed on Making A Mark Reviews next week) where I captured a small hoard of goodies - which will also be the subject of individual reviews in the future!
  
• Then I finished off the afternoon by going to the British Museum to see The Intimate Portrait exhibition of drawings and prints. Again there'll be a review of this - and the associated catalogue - next week.

These are a couple of photos that I took when visiting Falkiners. Art shoppers who, like me, have a bit of an obsession about good art shops and who can't wait for the review, can see the rest of the photos in my new Flickr set Shepherds Bookbinders / Falkiners Fine Art Papers and/or My Favourite Art Shops - Resources for Artists and /or the group I set up on Flickr about favourite art shops http://www.flickr.com/groups/favourite-artshop

Earlier in the week I met up with Felicity Grace (Felicity's Philosophies and Other Curiosities and Sketches by Fiz ) and we had a lovely time going round the Society of Botanical Artists exhibition (my third time!) and being shown work from portfolios by one of the diploma students and the exhibiting artist. Silly me forgot to take a photo of Felicity!

Art Blogs

Apologies first to Tracy Hall (Watercolour Artist Diary), Doris Joa (Romantic roses in watercolour) and Denise Ryan who all had work in the Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition. I forgot to include a mention of this in this post last Sunday - until I remembered on Monday morning! Here's some images of their work.

Botanical artwork in the Society of Botanical Artists Annual exhibition
(left to right) Tracy Hall, Doris Joa, Denise Ryan

Next, on Thursday I posted the results of the MAM Poll for April - in Genres and the results of "What's your favourite subject matter?". 173 of you responded to the poll (in the sidebar) and told me what you like best - Portraits / Figures are the most popular subject for artwork. Around a quarter of you like drawing and painting people and figures best of all and 40% of you like to create art from living beings - whether people or animals.

On Monday I asked Who are the "best and the brightest" artists? - and quite a lot of you responded with comments.

Drawing and sketching

• I rather like Val Webb's blog The Illustrated Garden. You can see her sketchbooks here
• On my sketchbook blog I posted about my visit with the Drawing London group to The Temple and Temple Church

Coloured pencils and pastels

• Felicity Grace (Sketches by Fiz) has a nice work in progress - with comments and explanations - of drawing of a portrait. Plus this is the finished portrait
• The Pastel Journal has
  
• an interview with Elizabeth Mowry 10 Questions for Elizabeth Mowry
• an article about still life art produced by three different artists in Pastel Gallery: Three Still Life Artists I'm always amazed about the pronounced slant towards realism in American Art. Still life by UK artists frequently tends towards looser, more painterly treatments.

Painters

• David Hockney has started painting using his iPhone according to The Daily Telegraph.
• The Artist's Network has a new blog from David McEown called Painting at the End of the Earth which documents painting in the Arctic!
• Michael Chesley Johnson has recreated his blog A Plein Air Painter's Blog (old) with a new blog address. Read New Blog Location on his old blog and and then visit/bookmark his new blog A Plein Air Painter's Blog (new!) which is at http://mchesleyjohnson.blogspot.com/

Printmakers

• On Tuesday, I posted about Thomas Bewick - wood engraver and naturalist

Sculpture

• Some amazing photos of Rock Balancing on the Flickr Blog
  

Art Group Blogs

To gather in one area of the world, virtually, once a month with other artists. To paint or draw a scene and composition of your choosing, within a predetermined area.

• Bill Guffey has set up a blog which is quite unusual called The Virtual Paintout. The idea is that it uses Google Street View as a resource for traveling the world to find interesting locations and subjects to paint. This month the blog is visiting Paris - see Paris - Virtual Paintout #4 - May!
  

Art Business and Marketing

• Storque, Etsy's Handmade Blog reviewed what happened when Etsy Day Takes Over The World
• Dan at Empty Easel has an interesting post about The Internet Art Market Timeline. It leaves out eBay developments which I guess saw many artists attracted to and then exiting from eBay.
• The Affordable Art Fair is in New York on 7-10th May - and Tracey Helgeson's work will be there see - Affordable Art Fair on her blog
• Edward Winkelman (edward_ winkleman) has a post about The Thorny Authoritarian Issue : Open Thread
• Every Monday Joanne Mattera (Joanne Mattera Art Blog) discusses a marketing topic. Here are some links to recent ones
• MARKETING MONDAYS: THE M.F.A. concerns the purpose of the Masters of Fine Art Degree CHECK LINK ON BLOG
  
• Marketing Mondays: How is Your Pie Sliced?
• Stayin' Alive
  
• Promotion
• Reciprocity
• Careerism
• How Not to Approach . . .
• The Art Network
• Why Haven't I Heard . .?"
• Adjunct Teaching
• Lost in Space
• Juried Shows
• Rejection
• Introducing . . .

Art Competitions

Turner Prize 2009

The prize is awarded each year to 'a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding'.

The shortlisted artists for the Turner Prize artists were announced last week.

• The artists are: Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright. Adrian Searle profiles the artists up for the 2009 Turner prize plus a report which suggests that Turner prize shortlist goes back to the drawing board.
  
• Bloomberg is very much of the opinion that the tide has turned - see Turner Prize Boosted as U.K. Rivals Vie With Diamonds, Crystals

The Turner Prize jury is getting back on track at last. Last year’s shortlist for the U.K.’s top contemporary-art award showed something terminally bad was overtaking the visual arts in Britain. This year’s selection is completely different.

• The shortlist was chosen by this year's judges who are: Mariella Frostrup, Charles Esche, Jonathan Jones and Andrea Schlieker. Read about Life as a Turner prize judge
  

A year ago, digging for the best in British art looked about as promising as a hunt for apple trees in the Sahara. In fact, it turned out to be more like searching for plants beneath a frozen tundra: on the surface, things did look pretty barren and empty; but when we cut through all the art fair bullshit, we quickly started to discover green shoots.

• You can see a slideshow of their work and meet the artists
  
• and read about past Turner Prizes - year by year

and then there's the rest

• The International Association of Pastel Societies' Fourteenth Juried Exhibition and 2009 Web Show is receiving entries from artists who are members of pastel society members of the IAPS up until the entry deadline of July 26, 2009. Accepted entries will be exhibited on the IAPS web site October 2009–February 2010. Take careful note of the conditions of entry.
• Greater London: Richard Bryant's Photographic Celebration of a City is an exhibition of photographs by Richard Bryant at Somerset House until 31 May. I saw it earlier this year and the photos are really quite spectacular.
  
• There is a competition for amateur photographers associated with the exhibition. You are invited to submit your best photographs of London under the theme ‘Celebration of a City’. Competition closes on 15 May 2009.
• This is the Flickr Group Somerset House: Richard Bryant Competition where you can read more about the competition and upload photographs.

plus check out Art Studios below!

Art Education

• There was a very interesting article in the Guardian - Art A-level isn't just for artists. Student Tim Davies suggests that schools focus too much on the creative side of the subject – but you don't have to be great at painting or sculpture to love art!
• James Gurney (Gurney Journey) has an interesting post about The Grand Central Academy
• Art on the Line; Draw Power; an adult studio day led by Artist Paul Brandford (Winner of the Jerwood drawing prize 2003), is being held on Saturday 4 July at Somerset House. It focuses on how to develop your own style and means of expression in your drawing, and experiment with a range of techniques and materials.
• Robert Genn has had a couple of interesting 'letters' recently.
• The private lives of keeners responded to a question about artists can maintain their energy levels, motivation, and passion to realize their dreams.
  

Artists need to be self-sustaining, private, "follow-your-bliss" islands unto themselves. Self-directed and independent, they make their own fizz. But artists need to realize that there are more than a few ways to become enthusiastic and motivated. One size does not fit all.

• Hyper-perfectionism examines the psychology of those with a tendency ostensibly to be obsessive about creating the perfect picture - and offers some tips
  

Inefficiency is the perfectionist's game--but it's often just simple dawdling and completion avoidance. By not completing, one avoids judgment.

Art Exhibitions

• On Wednesday I did a count, and it turns out that the SBA exhibition is The biggest exhibition of coloured pencil artwork in the UK
• More than 200 top contemporary artists, including Dinos and Jake Chapman, Antony Gormley, Peter Blake, Damien Hirst and Gavin Turk, have donated new work to a fundraising auction that celebrates drawing. The Drawing Room is at Tannery Arts, Brunswick Wharf, 55 Laburnum St, London E2 8BD from 30 April. The auction is at 6.30pm on 20 May. This is a slideshow of some of the works
• Take One Picture is an exhibition at the National Gallery of artwork by primary school children who were inspied by Turner's Fighting Temeraire.

Art History

• I made a pencil copy of Sir Joshua Reynold's self-portrait (but haven't scanned it yet) in the An Intimate Portrait exhibition last week. It was fascinating to see self-portraits by people like Reynolds, Gainsborough and Girtin.
  

Art Supplies

On Friday I started the new MAM Opinion Poll for May which this motnh focuses on media. MAM Poll May: Which media do you like using for drawing or sketching?

• Check out Mark Golden on Paint
• Last week I did an extended Product Review: Jakar Battery Operated Eraser Pen which I first reviewed three years ago! It's one of my absolute essentials - so much so I'm afraid I indulge in "comfort buying" just so I'll never be without one! Mind you they're very cheap!
• Alease Michelle (Alease Michelle) has identified 6 Eco- Friendly Art Supply Companies

Websites and Blogs which look as they might become interesting in relation to details about art supplies include:

• Infotox provides some details about the safety of art materials and their labelling
• ArtInfoNet was created by the National Art Materials Trade Association (NAMTA) to encourage individuals to experiment and explore the world of art materials. It also intends to serve as a clearinghouse to consumers for information on the safe use of creative and fine art materials. It's not very well developed as yet (considering this is a trade site focused on consumers) however it might be promising/
  
• NAMTA - The International Art Materials Trade Association (the blog) it's just a pity that it doesn't post more often

Art Studios

More about people's art studios

• This is a video tour of Alease Michelle's studio - I love the annotations and some of her ideas about how to store 'stuff'!
• Nita Leland has a page on her website which is devoted to her studio
• Tina Mammoser (The Cycling Artist) showed us a Google Map of her journey to her new studio in A Journey to Art
• Art Calendar has a Studio Makeover Contest! See Art Scuttlebut for more details. The Art Calendar Studio Makeover Contest is FREE to enter and runs from May 1, 2009 until July 31, 2009. You have to be over 18 and live in the USA. All winners will also be included in an editorial feature in the November 2009 issue of Art Calendar!

Book reviews

First a new book! James Gurney (Gurney Journey) has announced that he's got a new book coming out based on content front his blog - it's called Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist.

This is the main project I’ve been working on during the last year. The material comes from my art school lectures and also from this blog. The reason I wrote the book—and this blog—is that there’s a lot of information that I think is crucial to imaginative picturemaking but I’ve never been able to find it in how-to art books.

Adapting material from a blog into a book turned out to be a much, much bigger job than I first imagined.

Now for the reviews and recommendations

• 10 Books Every Collage and Mixed Media Artist Must Buy! as recommended by Nita Leland (Exploring Color & Creativity)
  
• I posted a book review of art/shop/eat London over on Making A Mark Reviews. You'd think I'd be a big fan - but you'd be wrong.

and finally.......

There's no excuse for Brits not to get out with their sketchbooks or try plein air painting this summer because there's a warm, dry summer on the way, says Met Office.